My long-term job hunters, in defiance of common sense and good career strategies, look forward to the month of August because they believe all hirers are on vacation and they can “relax.” This myth persists even though many schools begin the last week of August, along with many colleges. Since the Great Recession started fewer people can afford to veg for a whole month. Today, not August 1, is the time to rev up your campaign. If you want to be on the payroll in September increase your exposure and stir the pot harder.

1. Contact anyone you haven’t talked to in three months. Only your family and friends — and not all of them — think of you daily. The rest of the world moves on. Remind each person what you’re looking for.

2. Contact employers who interviewed, but didn’t hire, you. Explain that you’re checking back in case they have another opening. About 15 percent of the time the person they did hire isn’t a good fit and leaves or is fired. The hirer is irritated at having to reopen the job hunt. What if a “savior” came along? Would he/she be hired in a heartbeat? You do the math.

3. Contact ten organizations a day you have not contacted before. Apply on-line. We don’t know if they have a job you’d like but we’re aiming for exposure. We can’t afford to wait until a job opening is known. What else are you doing? Job hunts, however diligent, ebb and flow. Raise the flow.

5. Rethink your job hunting strategies. What is clearly not working? If this seems too obvious remember that you may keep doing unproductive things without identifying them as such because they are routine, a.k.a. you’re in a rut.

6. Contact anyone who gave you a job lead in the last three months. What are they seeing, hearing, feeling? This is a better strategy than you might think. When we ask clients where they’ve gotten the best job leads it’s from two or three people, not spread evenly like peanut butter over the entire contact base. Some people are always hearing about jobs and you need to be in regular contact with them.

The most important step to rev up your search with new career strategies is to keep momentum and energy. If you slack off you’ll have another period of getting back up to speed in September. Momentum is hard to build and harder to keep but it’s key to your search. Don’t let August find you in a self-induced coma.